SPOILERS: AEW Rampage Match SCRAPPED From Friday's Card
This match announced for Friday's AEW Rampage show will NOT air as announced.
Ricky Starks vs. Lance Archer will not air on this Friday's AEW Rampage despite being announced for the show.
Archer and Starks are due to collide as part of AEW's latest World Title Eliminator Tournament. Culminating at Full Gear 2022, where the tourney's two bracket winners will fight for a shot at the gold, AEW revealed the competition's full lineup last week.
Friday's Rampage was taped after last night's live AEW Dynamite in Boston, Massachusetts. PWInsider's Mike Johnson reported prior to the spoilers emerging that Starks vs. Archer would be scrapped from Rampage and pushed back to next week, potentially taking place on Dynamite. This was proven correct when the spoilers emerged. Per the Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online, Archer took Starks out in a backstage angle during the Rampage tapings, with Tony Schiavone breaking the news.
WON/F4W's spoiler report states that AEW didn't announce an alternative date for Starks/Archer during the Rampage tapings.
Ricky Starks Vs. Lance Archer Postponed?
Assuming it airs as described, the Rampage angle sounds similar to what played out between Starks and Archer on Wednesday's Dynamite. Backstage interviewer Alex Marvez was looking for words from Ricky ahead of Friday. When he turned to face 'Absolute', Archer was smashing Starks' skull against a steel door, prompting Marvez to shout for help.
Archer's eventual AEW tie-up with Starks will be his first singles match on AEW television since June. 'The Murderhawk Monster' spent time in Japan after this, competing in NJPW's G1 Climax tournament in July and August, before returning to American shores in September. His AEW comeback took place in the 'Grand Slam' Rampage special's Golden Ticket Battle Royal - and Archer has since worked four matches for Dark and Dark: Elevation.
Starks, meanwhile, had been away from Dynamite and Rampage for five weeks before returning last Friday. This reportedly wasn't a case of booker's neglect, but "something not wrestling-related", in the words of Dave Meltzer, with whatever it was necessitating a period on the sidelines.