AEW Rampage Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from December 23

Welcome to Bleacher Report’s coverage and recap of AEW Rampage Holiday Bash on December 23.

A huge Battle Royal involving Trios took place this week, and one interesting inclusion was Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta from BCC.

We also saw Billy Gunn team up with Anthony Bowens to take on Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal, and Jade Cargill battled Vertvixen.

We also head from Wardlow, Eddie Kingston and Ortiz. Let’s take a look at what happened during Friday’s show.

The Holiday Bash edition of Rampage opened up with the big trios Battle Royale. Eight teams competed for a briefcase filled with $300,000 in cash.

As soon as the bell rang, all hell broke loose. It was almost impossible to follow everything that was going on with so many bodies flying around at the same time, especially since some people immediately took the fight out of the ring.

Eliminations came quickly and seemingly at random, which is par for the course in a Battle Royale. It had some fun moments, but it was also kind of a mess. The camera did not always catch important moments because there was so many different people doing things at once.

Having a late entry into the match certainly helped AR Fox and Top Flight. They came in fresh and ended up winning the whole thing by last eliminating Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli, but they had a little help from Adam Page when he ambushed Mox.

Winners: AR Fox and Top Flight

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Having some teams start in the ring while others got to enter later seemed like a strange decision. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason for the order of entrants. 
• House of Black not being in this match felt wrong at first, but it’s better that they weren’t if they were not going to win. 
• It’s nice to see Angelico again. He hasn’t had much TV time this year. 
• Moxley tried to dropkick Evil Uno out of the ring but he went way too low. 
• Tony Nese’s elimination was one of the best spots in the whole match. 

Ortiz and Eddie Kingston had a promo that was interrupted by House of Black before we got the next match between Jade Cargill and Vertvixen.

This was Vertvixen’s first match on Rampage but she has had over a dozen bouts on AEW Dark and Elevation, so she is no stranger to the ring.

The leader of the Baddies easily took control as soon as the match started and maintained her dominance throughout the commercial break. This match was given more time than most of Jade’s bouts, but a lot of it took place during that break.

Cargill continues to show improvements and gain confidence in her abilities, but there are still some moves that she hesitates with from time to time. The champ scored the win to extend her winning streak to 45-0.

Winner: Jade Cargill

Grade: C

Notable Moments and Observations

• Seeing as the TBS title is kind of like a TV Championship, it feels like it should be on the line in every match, especially since Cargill is going to win anyway. 
• It’s easy to overlook how big Vertvixen is because Cargill is so tall, too. In most situations, she would be the aggressor. 

Max Caster sat out this week, so Bowens and Gunn teamed up this week to take on the team known as Triple J, which is Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett.

Gunn and Jarrett have worked together in WWE, TNA and now AEW, so their history is deep despite not having many big feuds together.

Bowens and Lethal started off with a furious exchange of strikes before the two veterans took their turn in the ring.

This was a fun tag match that was mostly carried by Lethal and Bowens. Double J and Daddy Ass both had some good moments, but it was Lethal who won by hitting Gunn with his finisher.

Winners: Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

• Gunn acknowledging his past history with Jarrett during the pre-match promo was some nice continuity. One of the best things AEW has done since the start is to acknowledge the history outside of the company. 
• Lethal looks like he has been hitting the gym. He has put on a little more muscle. 
• The Lethal Injection is one of those moves that either looks awesome or awful depending on how well he hits it. This one looked pretty good.