May meets Shida in Owen Hart semi on Rampage on TSN+
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Mariah May meets Hikaru Shida in an Owen Hart semifinal match. Plus, Rush and Kyle O'Reilly are in action. You can catch AEW Rampage on Friday at 10pm et/7pm pt streaming on TSN+.
Owen Hart Foundation Cup semifinal match: "The Glamour" Mariah May (w/ AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm and Luther) vs. Hikaru Shida - A date with Willow Nightingale in the final of the 2024 Owen Hart Foundation Cup tournament on Wednesday night in Calgary awaits one of Mariah May or Hikaru Shida. The two women will meet for a spot in the final on Rampage on Friday night. May advanced to the semis on the back of a victory over former AEW Women's World Champion Saraya at Forbidden Door. As Saraya went for the Knight Light, May rolled her up for the victory. A former three-time AEW Women's World Champion, Shida reached the semis with a victory over "The Virtuosa" Deonna Purrazzo on Collision. Shida defeated Purrazzo with the Katana Kick, but Purrazzo didn't take too kindly to the loss, attacking Shida after the match until the intervention of Thunder Rosa. While winning the Owen would complicate things for May with her mentor Toni Storm as world champion, it would be a helluva prize for the London-born competitor. The winner of the tournament receives a world title shot at All In at Wembley Stadium in August. Wrestling for the world title in front of her hometown fans would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for May and she's well aware of that. But Shida is as tough an opponent as they come and has proven her championship mettle time and time again. This will be the first-ever meeting between the two women, so there's no history to draw on for either of them. Which of these two women will advance to the Owen final?
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The Don Callis Family ("The Alpha" Konosuke Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher) (w/ Don Callis and Trent Beretta) vs. Private Party ("Brother Zay" Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) -The Don Callis Family is in flux. This past Wednesday night on Dynamite, AEW International Champion Will Ospreay asked to leave the faction. His request came on the heels of the main event of Forbidden Door when Don Callis's attempt to get Ospreay to use a screwdriver against Swerve Strickland in the AEW World Championship match was enough of a distraction to allow Swerve to take advantage and retain his title. Respecting his wishes, Callis granted Ospreay's request, but warned him that the day might come when he needs a favour from him. A close friend of Ospreay's, Kyle Fletcher looked conflicted over the matter, but left with Callis. On Friday night, Fletcher and Konosuke Takeshita will be in tag-team action when they take on the duo of Private Party, Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen. Fletcher was victorious over Serpentico at Forbidden Door, but he's still smarting over the loss of his ROH World Television Championship at Arena Mexico last Friday night to Atlantis Jr. Takeshita is also coming off of a disappointing weekend, falling in the ladder match for the vacant TNT Championship at Forbidden Door with Jack Perry coming out on top. While Takeshita and Fletcher are looking to get back on track, so are Kassidy and Quen. Kassidy was pinned by Brody King after a Gonzo Bomb at Forbidden Door in a four-way match won by the Kings of the Black Throne (King and Malakai Black) that also included Kyle O'Reilly and Tomohiro Ishii and Roderick Strong and New Japan Strong Openweight Champion Gabe Kidd. That loss happened right after the duo were beaten by For the World Champion "The Learning Tree" Chris Jericho and "The Redwood" Big Bill on the June 20 Collision. In fact, Prviate Party has lost four of their last five matches. Something has got to give for one of these teams on Friday night. Which duo will see their arms raised?
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"El Toro Blanco" Rush vs. AAA World Cruiserweight Champion Komander (w/ Alex Abrahantes) - Since returning to AEW in April after a four-month absence, Rush had been a one-man wrecking crew, violently dispatching his opposition with ease. That had been the case until meeting former AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman on the June 19th Dynamite. After a brutal back-and-forth matchup, MJF hit the Heatseeker and followed it up with a brainbuster for the victory. The loss weighed heavily on the former ROH World Champion, but it precipitated a visit from Don Callis, who asked Rush to consider his services. This situation is the backdrop to Friday night's match as Rush returns to action for the first time since the defeat to MJF when he takes on Komander. The match will be the first-ever one-on-one meeting between the two men who have both held gold in AAA. They have faced off one time before - in trios action - back in 2022. The team of Komander, Pagano and Black Taurus defeated Rush, Dralistico and Cibernetico. While a victory over Rush in a singles match would obviously be a huge accomplishment for a young Mexican star, Komander should be ready to get on the defensive in a hurry. Normally foul tempered to begin with, Rush will be looking to take out his frustrations on his opponent on Friday night. If Komander can weather Rush's initial onslaught, he might be able to put himself in position to go on the offensive afterwards to pick up a victory. Can Komander keep "El Toro Blanco" at bay or will Rush bounce back from his loss to MJF in a big way?
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PLUS:
- Kyle O'Reilly is in action