House of Black in tag action on Rampage on TSN+

The House of Black meets Lio Rush and Action Andretti. Plus, Willow Nightingale takes on Taya Valkyrie and Konosuke Takeshita is in action. You can catch AEW Rampage on Friday at 10pm et/7pm pt streaming on TSN+.

The House of Black (Malakai Black and Buddy Matthews) (w/ "Big, Bad" Brody King) vs. Lio Rush and Action Andretti (w/ Dante Martin, Darius Martin and Leyla Grey) - Losing is beginning to weigh heavily on Action Andretti. After bursting on the AEW scene in late 2022 when he upset Chris Jericho on the Dec. 14 edition of Dynamite, Andretti has won more matches than he's lost, but in recent weeks a lack of success has shortened his tolerance for failure. On the Sept. 12 edition of Rampage, Andretti came out on the losing end of a match with Konosuke Takeshita. The following night on Collision, Andretti didn't care for the jovial attitude of his allies Lio Rush and Top Flight (Dante Martin and Darius Martin) after they, too, had all lost big matches in recent days. Andretti made it clear that all of them need to focus on winning. He'll have a chance to make his point on Friday night, but it won't be easy when he and Rush team up to take on the House of Black's Malakai Black and Buddy Matthews. The match will mark the first time that Andretti and Rush have worked as a team against a duo who have considerably more experience operating as a duo. The bout also represents a clash in styles with Rush and Andretti's speed and agility meeting Black's striking prowess and Matthews' technical finesse. What will be interesting to see is if there is any new urgency to Andretti's game plan and if Rush follows suit. Even the slightest mistake against a team the calibre of Black and Matthews could spell disaster. Can Andretti and Rush right the ship or does the House always win?

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Willow Nightingale vs. Taya Valkyrie (w/ "The Virtuosa" Deonna Purrazzo) - Willow Nightingale has a lot on her plate right now. Still smarting from a pair of high-profile losses, losing a Chicago Street Fight to friend-turned-foe Kris Statlander at All Out on Sept. 7 and then dropping her CMLL World Women's Championship to Zeuxis at the 91. Aniversario show only six days later, the former TBS Champion finds herself embroiled in a couple of different imbroglios. Last week on Collision, Nightingale spoke to Lexy Nair about bouncing back from her recent setbacks and being inspired by Yuka Sakazaki's return to challenge Mariah May for the AEW Women's World Championship. In the middle of her interview, Deonna Purrazzo and Taya Valkyrie arrived on the scene to wonder where Nightingale was when Sakazaki got attacked by May on the Sept. 18 Dynamite. Valkyrie would go on to challenge Nightingale to a match. Then this past Wednesday, after May had successfully defended her title against Sakazaki, she prepared to attack Sakazaki after the match. Nightingale arrived to make sure that didn't happen. But when she was distracted by the appearance of Mina Shirakawa, Nightingale was laid out with a belt shot from the champion. Before she can get her hands on May, and maybe another championship, Nightingale will answer the challenge of Valkyrie on Friday night. The match on Rampage will be only the second time the two women have met in singles action and the first time in AEW. For Prestige Wrestling in Portland, OR back in 2022, Valkyrie defeated Nightingale in their only one-on-one match to date. Like Nightingale, Valkyrie heads into the match as a loser of two in row, having dropped contests to Shirakawa in ROH and Thunder Rosa on the Aug. 3 Collision. Which of these two women will end her skid?

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Anna Jay vs. Robyn Renegade - Anna Jay is back in AEW. The 26-year-old Brunswick, GA native spent the month of August in Japan, competing in Stardom's 5STAR Grand Prix. It was Jay's first excursion to Japan where she competed in eight matches. Participating in the Blue Stars A Block, Jay finished in fourth place of seven competitors, going 3-3 with wins over Saori Anou, Miyu Amasaki and Koguma with losses to Starlight Kid, Syuri and Xena. The tournament was ultimately won by Maika. Back in her home promotion, Jay is looking to use her experience gleaned from an intensive immersion in Japanese wrestling to challenge for titles in AEW. While she's had her opportunities in the past, Jay has not been able to capitalize on them. Jay is 0-7 in matches for either the AEW Women's World Championship or TBS Championship. She knows that must change and her road to gold begins on Friday night with a match against one half of the Renegade Twins, Robyn Renegade. Friday night's match will be the first time the two have met in singles action. Jay holds two wins over Renegade in tag-team competition. While the wins in AEW might not be piling up for Renegade, she never gives anything less than an honest effort and will be a handful for the returning Jay. Can Jay mark her comeback with a victory or will Renegade spoil her party?

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"The Alpha" Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis) vs. Angelico - Konosuke Takeshita is still waiting for his one-on-one match with Kazuchika Okada. The AEW Continental Champion remains firmly in the sights of "The Alpha," but before that match can come to pass, Takeshita goes one on one with Angelico on Rampage. The match will be a huge opportunity for Angelico to reassert himself in the men's division. Having recently focused on competing in Ring of Honor, the South African competitor is looking for his first singles win in AEW in nearly two years. But a lack of wins shouldn't be equated with a lack of talent. Angelico is not to be underestimated. He's a three-time AAA World Tag Team Champion alongside Jack Evans and a former wXw Shotgun Champion, holding a title that was also held by the likes of Ilja Dragunov, Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate. Takeshita will overlook him at his peril. But Takeshita is in imperious form right now. He's undefeated in singles action in AEW since returning after the conclusion of the New Japan Pro-Wrestling G1 Climax. To find his last singles loss in AEW, you would have to go all the way back to Double or Nothing in May when he fell to Jon Moxley in an IWGP World Heavyweight Title Eliminator. For Angelico to win Friday night's match, he will have to do what nobody else has been able to do in recent weeks. Takeshita and Angelico have met once before in AEW with Takeshita emerging victorious in late 2022. Will Takeshita keep rolling or will Angelico pick up a massive victory?

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PLUS:

- The Acclaimed ("Platinum" Max Caster and "The Five-Tool Player" Anthony Bowens) (w/ "Daddy Ass" Billy Gunn are in tag-team action