AEW Dynamite, Rampage Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights from May 1

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of AEW Dynamite and Rampage on May 1.

Once again, Rampage was rescheduled and took place after Dynamite this week.

This week's three-hour show featured the usual array of action we have become used to, but we also saw the return of Kenny Omega after being kicked out of The Elite.

The biggest match on the card was Adam Copeland's open challenge against a member of The House of Black, but he didn't know who it would be until the contest took place.

Let's take a look at what went down on Wednesday night at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg.

The show opened with Tony Khan saying he would be unable to run the show from the arena, but the clip was cut short by The Young Bucks, who played a new intro video for Dynamite.

When we went live in the arena, Swerve Strickland made his way out with Prince Nana. He brought up Double or Nothing and said he doesn't know who will face him at the PPV yet.

The Bucks appeared on the screen and said they had an opponent for him. Christian Cage's music hit, and he came out with The Patriarchy.

Cage attacked Swerve without saying a word and dropped him on the title with a Killswitch. Nick Wayne even hit Prince Nana with his finisher.

Christian promised to win the world title and give Swerve's daughter a new dad she could be proud of in the process.

Even though it seems weird for Cage to be getting a title shot out of nowhere after being away for several weeks, this segment did a great job setting up the feud.

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

• The Bucks saying the EVPs are in control now is something that will come into  play later in the show. 
• The crowd chanted Christian's name during his entrance. 
• Having Christian be upset about what Swerve did to Wayne months ago was a perfect way to justify his anger. 

Copeland's open challenge to any member of House of Black was answered by Buddy Matthews, who came out alone for his title shot.

They started slowly with some basic lockups and takedowns as they sized each other up. These two have little experience working together, so they took their time to see how their chemistry developed.

The moment they picked up the pace was when Copeland sent Matthews out of the ring for a suicide dive. The challenger was able to take control during the break and began punishing Copeland.

Both men went down after colliding, and Matthews immediately signaled for the doctors to look at him. The show went to a break but continued to air in picture-in-picture. They eventually continued the match and began brawling.

They did some good work in this bout, especially after the second break. Copeland's avalanche Impaler and Matthews' various strikes all looked great. The only issue they had was how it was paced in some places.

The Rated-R Superstar retained his TNT title with a Spear but kept attacking Matthews after the bell.

Malakai Black appeared and took the Australian away before anything bad could happen, but there was a moment when he was basically telling Copeland to hit Matthews.

Result: Copeland defeated Matthews

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• It will be interesting to see how long All Elite Wrestling can go before Christian and Copeland are in the same storyline again. 
• Taz is hilarious on commentary without even trying. 
• Matthews got a running start to apply a headlock and it was kind of weird. 
• AEW rarely does close count-outs because the refs just don't count sometimes. There should be more consistency across the board with that stuff. 
• The second commercial break may not have been intended for that spot, but it was used in case Matthews was hurt. 

In his first match since losing the world title, Samoa Joe took on Private Party's Isiah Kassidy.

The crowd began chanting "Joe is gonna kill you" at Kassidy, which got a smile out of The Samoan Submission Machine. Kassidy grabbed Joe's towel and began dancing with it

Joe went after him and propelled him into the air so he could watch him fall. What could have easily been a squash match for the former AEW champ to look dominant ended up lasting longer than expected, but it was only by a couple of minutes.

Joe won clean with a Muscle Buster and posed for the crowd as they cheered and chanted his name. The couple of minutes we got were good, but it was too short to be anything special.

Result: Joe defeated Kassidy

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Marq Quen did not accompany Kassidy to the ring. 
• Joe was playing to the crowd a bit. It almost felt like he was playing a babyface. 
• Joe's walkway spot is always funny. 

Orange Cassidy said he was told Chuck Taylor would never be able to wrestle again following Trent Beretta's attack on him.

He was about to threaten Beretta when he showed up. Cassidy tried to go after him but security held him back as his former friend yelled at him.

Don Callis came out and said something to Cassidy before leading him backstage.

The next match saw Katsuyori Shibata challenge Chris Jericho for the FTW title.

Jericho was acting like a babyface in an attempt to get more heat. He even wore a jacket with a logo for the Winnipeg Jets and had his dad in the crowd.

Since this was under FTW rules, the veteran brought some weapons into the ring like a trash can and some hockey pucks. Shibata did Shibata stuff and popped the crowd with every strike.

At one point, Shibata was inside a trash can and Jericho was hitting it with a kendo stick, but The Wrestler used it like a shield and backed his rival to the corner so he could headbutt him with the can.

This ended up being more fun than it had any right to be, and a lot of the credit for that goes to Shibata for finding some unique ways to use the stipulation to his advantage. Big Bill showed up and attacked Shibata to help Jericho retain.

Result: Jericho defeated Shibata

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Please keep Callis away from Cassidy. 
• This was the first time in a while Jericho had worn trunks. 
• Jericho's Lionsault was way off the mark. 
• Both men had red chests from all the chops they delivered. 

Claudio Castagnoli was out first for a singles match against Brian Cage. He also gave a promo in a pre-recorded video that aired during his entrance.

The pair charged at each other and began trading punches after the bell. They kept a quick pace and used various power moves to show off their impressive strength.

This was a hard-hitting and physical matchup that did a lot to highlight how good both guys are when they are working with another powerhouse.

This contest had some great spots and made both men look great, but Castagnoli came away from this looking better since he got the victory with a Sharpshooter, which popped the Canadian crowd.

Result: Castagnoli defeated Cage

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Castagnoli's promo wasn't that easy to hear due to the crowd noise and his music playing. 
• The ease with which Castagnoli hit Cage with a vertical suplex was so impressive.
• Cage's gear looked like it was designed to reference the X-Men '97 cartoon. 
• Castagnoli rarely uses a superkick, so it was surprising to see him employ one here. 

The final match on the Dynamite portion of the show featured Mariah May taking on a woman who intends to win the world title: Serena Deeb.

Deeb showed off her technical prowess early by using a variety of holds, counters and takedowns, but May wasn't about to be outdone. She kept up with The Professor and ended up gaining the upper hand as the show cut to a break.

This was a great display of skill from a veteran and a rising star who brought out the best in each other. This is the kind of bout that you have to watch again just to make sure you catch everything they did well.

Deeb locked May in a submission, but she refused to tap out, so Toni Storm threw in the towel to save her friend from suffering too much damage.

Result: Deeb defeated May

Grade: B+

AEW ended the Dynamite portion of the show with the return of Omega. Announcer Justin Roberts gave him a long introduction.

The Cleaner said he wasn't good at talking about injuries but spoke about being diagnosed with diverticulitis. He said he was 24 hours from death and was scared he would never be able to wrestle again.

He said he was going to make sure he is able to come back eventually, but then he moved on to The Young Bucks. He said he is still an EVP and retains some power, which brought out Kazuchika Okada.

Omega said if Okada gives him a few months, they can settle their feud in an AEW ring. Jack Perry attacked him from behind while Okada grabbed a chair. The Best Bout Machine ended up taking Perry out but seemed to be in pain after he did it.

Perry ended up hitting him in the gut with a chair before the Bucks arrived. They hit the EVP Trigger before FTR came out to make the save.

Notable Moments and Observations

• Rocky Romero gave an interview saying he is doing his own thing and moving on from Best Friends. He also issued a challenge to Kyle O'Reilly for a match on Rampage. 
• The little girl Deeb gave her flag to looked so excited. 
• The spot when May was supposed to be unable to move because Deeb wrapped up her limbs is one of those things that requires a big suspension of disbelief. 
• Both of these competitors really throw themselves into the corner during an Irish whip. 
• May's running knee was brutal. 

The first match on Rampage saw Jay White take on Dante Martin. The Gunns ended up leaving ringside, which kept things even since Martin was flying solo, too.

They immediately took the fight out of the ring and began brawling. Switchblade took control and brought him back inside the ropes. The high-flyer sent White back out of the squared circle and hit a suicide dive.

The crowd's energy seemed to drop as soon as the Omega segment was over, so big moves that should have gotten loud reactions were met with tepid applause.

Martin hit the back of his head on the top turnbuckle and signaled for the ref to check on him, but he appeared to be alright and continued to fight as the match played in picture-in-picture during a break.

This was a solid contest that had some fun moments that kept this trios feud going, but the crowd's lack of energy affected it a bit.

White picked up a clean win but hit a DDT after the match to drive home the fact that he was the bad guy.

Result: White defeated Martin

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

• Okada and the Bucks attacked FTR as Omega was being taken to an ambulance. They dumped him off the stretcher before finally leaving. 
• Martin barely got a running start for his suicide dive. 
• Martin's bottom rope backflip always looks cool. 

After issuing a challenge during Dynamite, Romero and O'Reilly met for a singles match. Excalibur spoke about the long history between them as opponents.

They started with an exchange of holds and counters that ended with Romero doing a dance. They kept it respectful and even bumped fists after one of their sequences.

This was a great display of pro wrestling from two well-respected veterans who have had success all over the world. They made every single thing they did look good.

While there was almost nothing to criticize about this contest, it felt like they were holding back. It's possible they held back to make their next match even better, but having less than 10 minutes to work was also a factor.

O'Reilly ended up winning with a pinning combination. Romero looked upset, but we didn't get to see much after the match because AEW immediately cut to an interview with Saraya backstage.

Result: O'Reilly defeated Romero

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• We got a promo video from Rush to establish him as a solo act without Jose, Dralistico or Preston Vance. 
• O'Reilly has some of the most convincing strikes. He is so good at making it look like he is using all of his power without actually hurting anyone. 

The final match was a Street Fight between Willow Nightingale and Skye Blue. The former arrived with a trash can lid she immediately used to take the latter down.

They took the fight into the crowd right away. Willow was not playing games and started ripping up the barricade so she could use it against her opponent.

The show ended up going into overtime, so they had enough time to make this an entertaining bit of mayhem without feeling too rushed.

Blue was bleeding from the head after the break, which made her look even more manic as she grabbed a bag of tacks and dumped them all over the ring.

Both women took some painful bumps with tables, chairs, tacks and barbed wire, but it was a powerbomb through barbed wire and tables that finally secured the win for the TBS champion.

Result: Nightingale defeated Blue

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• This was the least we have seen Willow smile before a match. 
• Tony Schiavone saying "Little b---h" on commentary was a little out of left field. 
• Blue has shown a willingness to take painful spots in numerous matches. She has really shined in 2024. 

• We have an interview dropping with Willow next week. Make sure to check it out. 

AEW put on a little over three hours of programming on Wednesday, but it went by quickly thanks to some great matches and a show that was laid out well.

Even the bouts that could have been shorter felt like they were given enough time. Joe could have squashed Kassidy and nobody would bat an eye, but he gave the tag team specialist some time to shine before beating him.

Jericho vs. Shibata was better than expected, May and Deeb put on a great show, and Cage and Castagnoli put their talent and power on display.

Nightingale and Blue had the most memorable encounter, but the biggest talking point coming out of the show was The Elite attacking Omega moments after he told the crowd any significant impact could kill him.

Obviously, Omega's condition is not as bad as that if he was willing to get this physical, but the way the story played out got a lot of heat on Okada and the Bucks. AEW is playing the long game with this story because we know we won't get a payoff for at least a few months, so hopefully it can keep this momentum going.

As a whole, this was an entertaining three hours of programming with a few bouts worth taking the time to watch if you did not see it live.

Grade: B+